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McCreary Central defeats Lady Trojans SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer The Monticello Lady Trojans met 48th District rival McCreary Central last Friday night at Raider Gym. Monticello entered with a 6-5 district mark and 1-16 record overall. The Lady Trojans were coming off a 54-39 home loss to Clinton County earlier in the week. The Lady Raiders owned a 12-7 tally with a 2-3 district record and were coming off a 59-51 loss at Southwestern on Tuesday night. Central owned an impressive win at Monticello earlier in the season. McCreary Central broke-open a 15-9 game with a 21-4 run in the middle quarters, en route to claiming a 48-18 district win. Lindsey Waters, a 5-11 All-State candidate, scored a game high 14 points, while senior guard Tara Tucker netted 12 points, as the Lady Raiders improved to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in district play. "I thought we came out and really followed the game plan well early, but they changed to a 2-3 trap on defense and we struggled. Against McCreary you have to take care of the basketball and try to contain Waters. I thought we did a pretty decent job on the defensive end, but we just couldn't get any shots to drop," said Monticello Coach Marla Kelsch. Taniesha Vanover tallied 7 points and Joni Marion added 6 points, as eight different Lady Raiders scored in the contest. Monticello, which dropped to 1-17, was plagued by 23 turnovers and a season low 18 percent shooting from the field. Freshman forward Raven Frost paced the attack with 7 points, which marked team honors for the freshman for the second straight game. "When they switched defenses we didn't respond very well and played timid. We didn't penetrate and attack, instead we played a little scared, which led to careless mistakes. I thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball early and it showed on the scoreboard. With such a young team we're still struggling at putting four consistent quarters together," said Kelsch. Tela Casada added 4 points and Cortney Morrow netted 3 points, as five different Monticello players scored in the game. McCreary Central opened with a 5-0 early lead, before the Lady Trojans battled back to close the gap to 15-9, after one period. Joni Marion led the hosts with 6 points, on 2 3-pointers, in the period. Four different Lady Trojans scored in the opening minutes. Lindsey Waters scored 10 points in the first half and Central used an 8-2 second stanza run to push to a 23-11 halftime advantage. Tela Casada's 2 free throws were Monticello's only points in the quarter, as the squad was held without a field goal. "I thought at halftime even at 23-11 we were still in the game and had done some pretty good things. We must find a way to make some shots," said Kelsch. A trio of Lady Raiders scored 4 points each in the third frame, as McCreary used a 13-2 run to claim a 36-13 lead, after 24 minutes. Raven Frost netted 2 of her 5 second half points in the period. Five different Lady Raiders scored in the final quarter, as Central ended the game with a 12-5 tilt, en route to taking a 48-18 win. Vanessa Branscum and Brittney Crabtree added 2 points each to round-out the Lady Trojans in the scoring column. Crabtree, making her second straight start, earned the notice of the coach. "I thought Brittney Crabtree really played well on the defensive end and played with a lot of intensity. At this point we're looking for players that will get after it and play with some intensity," said Kelsch. A review of the stats shows Central made 17 2-point baskets and 2 3-pointers. The winners tallied on 5 of 17 free throws for 29 percent and finished with 12 turnovers. Monticello finished 6 of 33 overall for 18 percent and tallied on 1 of 12 3-pointers for 8 percent. The Lady Trojans connected on 5 of 9 free throws for 55 percent and finished with 23 turnovers. Up next for the Lady Trojans are two difficult road trips. The squad travels to 13th Region foe North Laurel on Monday night and ends the week on Friday night at 11th Region member Berea. "We have to go back to work and try to do the things that we are capable of doing as a team. The past few games we're making too many unforced mistakes and hopefully that's something we'll correct. We also have to find a way to make some easy shots early, I know several games this year we open with some good looks and miss, which certainly hurts our momentum," said Kelsch. Add a comment |
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